Since the Texas Legislature meets for only 140 days every two years (though an old joke suggests it should convene for two days every 140 years), its leaders hand out homework to keep lawmakers busy between sessions. Known as “interim charges,” these study topics help lawmakers prepare for debating the complex and important issues facing our state. This year, though he’s been busy running for the U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst drew up a lengthy list of issues meriting special attention by interim committees.
How do we make sure Texas, with its booming population, doesn’t run out of water? How do we pay for highways, or ensure the reliability of our electric utility grid? What do we do about rising homeowners’ insurance rates, or the increasing phenomenon of prescription drug abuse?
How does Sharia law - the legal and moral foundation of Islam - impact Texas family courts?
Frankly, given the significant problems facing our leaders, I was a little surprised to see that last one tucked in the interim charges sent to members of the Texas Senate‘s Jurisprudence committee. But Dewhurst’s communications director, Mike Walz, assured me that two senators - Republicans Joan Huffman of Houston and Bob Duncan of Lubbock - asked to make a priority of the issue, which was raised last session by Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler.
Berman failed to pass a proposal that would have forbade Texas courts from considering foreign laws in making rulings. But he succeeded in stirring up concern among Texans that Sharia law is being forced upon unsuspecting citizens across the United States.
More than 20 states are considering laws that ban their courts from considering Sharia law when deciding cases.
The conservative Eagle Forum, among other groups, has sent its members warnings about the implications of Sharia, noting in one newsletter:
“Sharia law is becoming part of the American landscape as Christianity is being systematically removed. Christian students are being told they cannot pray at school activities or even pray in front of American institutions, while public school students adopt Muslim names, pray on prayer rugs and celebrate Ramadan under a state-mandated curriculum.”
Bringing clarity
I contacted Pat Carlson, who recently resigned from Eagle Forum to run for the Texas House in North Texas. She replied with an email mentioning two cases in Texas in which Sharia was invoked. One case was overturned on appeal; the other involved an agreement reached in voluntary arbitration.
So why is this such a pressing issue? Huffman told me she asked for hearings because she knew lawmakers would be asked to cast votes on it next session.
“It just seemed to me that we an interim study needed to be done to listen to the different viewpoints,” said Huffman, a former Harris County judge. While she couldn’t cite a specific instance in which Sharia had been invoked by a Texas judge, she said a hearing would bring clarity to the issue.
I called Mustafa Carroll, the Houston spokesman for Council on American-Islamic Relations, and told him the Texas Senate had planned on study on Sharia and Texas family courts. Chuckling erupted over the phone line.
“I didn’t mean to laugh, but it’s just unbelievable,” he said. “It’s a red herring.”
Carroll compared Sharia to the Ten Commandments: “It has no impact on anyone but those determined to follow it.”
Some have cited cases involving divorces, but Carroll said a premarital pact involving Sharia would not affect outsiders. “When some movie star signs a pre-nup, it doesn’t affect me,” he reasoned.
‘Creeping Sharia’
At a recent symposium at Rice University, M.A. Muqtedar Kahn, a University of Delaware professor, suggested that Islamaphobia fueled the fear of “creeping Sharia.” Given that we elect our judges in Texas, it seems unlikely that Sharia will ever have a major impact on jurisprudence here.
Carroll suggested there are more pressing issues that should draw the attention of the Texas Senate’s interim studies: “They better figure out how to get the 34 percent of kids who are dropping out to stay in school.”